2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

There’s an unwritten rule in the exclusive world of luxury sedans, or at least an expectation, that a contender must offer a V-8 engine to be taken seriously. Just ask the Acura RL. It doesn’t matter if V-6 models sell better or claim better fuel economy—the V-8 engine carries its own prestige, and its presence beneath the hood is nearly as important as the badge on top of it.

There’s no greater testament to this phenomenon than the 4.6-liter Tau V-8 powering the Hyundai Genesis. Unlike its luxury competition, Hyundai hasn’t been building V-8s for years; it’s been building small cars. There was no other vehicle — car or truck — to pull an engine from. That Hyundai spent millions developing a V-8 just to play in the luxury-sedan segment tells you all you need to know.

Chrysler, of course, had no such obstacle in the development of the 300C. The company has been building big V-8s and bigger cars for decades. But while Hyundai has been on a tear recently with a string of hits, Chrysler has stumbled in the wake of multiple ownership changes and bankruptcy. In the public eye, neither carries the cachet of a Mercedes or a Lexus brand, but both would like to.

Aspirations to grandeur aren’t the only trait these vehicles share. As different as they may appear, the specifications reveal two very similar cars. They’re both five-passenger, rear-drive sedans with similarly capable V-8 engines and automatic transmissions only. Both carry long lists of features and prices that handily undercut the competition. And though the 300C appears to dwarf the Genesis, it’s only 2.7 inches longer and within an inch in height and width. Likewise, the differences in interior and trunk space can be measured in cubic inches, not feet. The overriding difference, then, is how these vehicles go about delivering on their promises and the results they hope to achieve.

The 300C is not a subtle car. If its sheer size doesn’t get your attention, the bold, shameless styling and rumbling V-8 will demand it. Though the shape is instantly recognizable, Chrysler has reworked the sheetmetal for 2011 with modern and retro cues. The same car that wears Audi-like chains of LEDs in its lamps also has mini fins pulled out of the tops of its fenders and enough chrome jewelry to make Mariah Carey blink. While the Genesis may look conservative on its own, next to the 300C it may as well be invisible. Though some appreciated the Genesis’ reserved elegance, most referred to it as something along the lines of “that Mercedes-looking thing.”

Their interiors tell a similar tale. Where the Hyundai was clearly modeled after the clean, simple designs of its German and Japanese competition, the 300C is unapologetically American. The Genesis’ interior flows around you with graceful lines and unobtrusive styling that’s highly functional, if not especially memorable. The 300C, again, refuses to be ignored with its overstyled, clocklike gauges, massive touchscreen entertainment center, and wood trim that looks as though it was hand-carved from an ancient tree. Differences in interior noise levels were indiscernible between the two, and materials quality was nearly equal, with Hyundai holding a slight edge. While we may have found the 300C’s interior more interesting to look at and more feature-laden, the Genesis must be given due credit for offering a more open and spacious interior front and rear, despite having to work around a 4.6-inch-shorter wheelbase.

The deeper we look into these cars, the more apparent their divergent personalities become. Where the Genesis is quietly confident and demands little from the driver, the 300C is supremely self-confident and boisterous nearly to a fault. This dichotomy made itself well known on the road, where the 300C easily won our hearts. Just looking at the car, you’d expect it to drive like a prince’s yacht, but while the 300C absolutely feels like a big, heavy car, it also feels very solid and confident. Off the line, the 300C moves forward like a force of nature — quickly, but always smooth and never hurried. There’s an almost Rolls-Royce-like surge of power that masks how fast you’re actually going. Cane it a bit, and you’ll find the 300C will top 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds and dash past the quarter mile in 14.0 seconds at 101.4 mph, its 363-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 emitting just enough of a growl to let you know it means business.

The Genesis is a completely different experience. The 385-horse V-8 is eager to rev and pulls harder than the 300C, so much so that from behind the wheel you’d be certain you’re winning the drag race. And while logic suggests you should — considering that the Genesis weighs 261 pounds less than the 300C, has a newer six-speed gearbox to the 300C’s old five-speed, and packs an extra 22 horses — you’d be wrong. A 61-pound-foot deficit in torque and a slow-shifting transmission hold the Genesis to a 5.8-second 0-to-60 sprint and a 14.2-second quarter mile at 103.0 mph.

It’s not just a difference of straight-line speed, either. How fast you can hustle a 300C around a corner is limited only by your preconceptions of the car’s size. Though not particularly communicative and a bit light, the steering is quick and precise, and once the car leans into the outside front tire, it tracks through the corner like driving a cruise ship on rails. Goose the throttle a little, and you can even hang the tail out a bit if you so desire. The Genesis, by comparison, is downright boring, owing to its draconian electronic nannies and heavy, artificial steering. In normal driving, the Genesis actually moves through the corners nicely, but even the slightest push will invoke the wrath of stability and traction control systems, which can’t fully be defeated. Neither can the 300C’s, but they’re far more tolerant of exuberant driving and allowed the 300C to best the Genesis on both the skidpad and our figure-eight course.

The real test of these cars, though, is in ride quality, and again the 300C shines. While the 300C knows an SRT8 performance model is likely on the way and can relax a bit, the Genesis tries to be everything at once. The result is a Chrysler that floats down the road on a cloud and a Hyundai that rides like a sports sedan without the credentials to back it up. Worse, the front and rear suspension feel as though they’re tuned for different cars, making the rear end nervous on patchy pavement. The Genesis may give its passengers more room, but the 300C gives them a better ride.

Though a formidable competitor, the Hyundai strikes us as a transitional car, for the company and the buyer. It was a solid first effort on Hyundai’s part, but now that it’s been followed up by the Equus, the Genesis comes off as a corporate stepping-stone to bigger and better things. So, too, is its place in the market, where the Genesis feels like a launching pad toward established luxury brands, not an aspirational car itself.

The 300C has the opposite problem, if you care to call it that. The 300C is the flagship of both the Chrysler brand and the company as a whole. It’s the largest, most luxurious car the company builds, and will likely remain so as Chrysler scrambles to fill the void below it. Free of demands to outdo themselves, Chrysler’s engineers could leave everything on the 300’s sizable table. The result is a car confident of its place in the market and sold for what it is, not what it could be.

The End? Hardly. Not long after you read this, Hyundai will introduce an updated Genesis for 2012 with a new direct-injected V-6, a more-powerful 5.0-liter V-8, and a new eight-speed automatic transmission for both. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler will update the just-released 300 with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. The rematch is already scheduled.

1ST PLACE: CHRYSLER 300C
Better looks, better ride, more gadgets, and a lower starting price. This was the Chrysler’s test to lose, and it delivered a star performance.

2ND PLACE: HYUNDAI GENESIS
Still a solid luxury offering from a company not known for such things, but Chrysler beat them at their own value-based game this time.

0-60 MPH

EPA MPG

Horsepower

2011 Chrysler 300 News and Reviews

The Acura NSX and Ford GT may be the hottest new dream machines right now, but there are plenty of good sports cars that have never received their fair share of time in the spotlight. Maybe they don't pack the most horsepower or look aggressive enough, but enthusiasts know how well they drive. Here are some of the most underrated…

It’s the question of the ages and one that doesn’t get asked anywhere near as often as it should – if you were a dictator like the dearly-departed Kim Jong-Il (himself the owner of quite the fleet of Mercedes-Benz S-Classes), what kind of car would you drive?Dictators (as well as more benevolent heads-of-state) are known for driving expensive, extravagant, intimidating…

The full-size luxury segment now has a few more choices with the introduction of the updated 2013 Lincoln MKS, the all-new Cadillac XTS, and the recently-refreshed Chrysler 300 lineup. atvman asks which one you’d pick?To make the comparison at least somewhat fair, the most logical matchup would be between models with V-6 engines. However, this is the one area where…

One can easily picture Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel explaining Chrysler’s new transmissions, “But these go to eight.” Chrysler’s ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission recently made its debut on 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6-equipped Chrysler 300s and Dodge Chargers. According to a recent report from across the pond at Autocar, the new eight-speed transmission will soon be making its way onto not only the…

By 2014, Alfa Romeo may launch a rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan in based on the platform of the Chrysler 300. A report from Autocar suggests that the new Alfa sedan will serve as a flagship model and will help reintroduce the Italian brand to the American market.Though the new Alfa Romeo sedan was originally planned to be based on the Maserati…